I've never quite understood how the original 1988 Child's Play became so widely known and remembered. Every time the film comes up in conversation, it's agreed that it's pretty abysmal (as are most 80s slashers, as far as I'm concerned). I suppose its reputation probably just comes from the iconography of a children's toy being twisted and deformed into a hideous, murderous monster. For me, it was one of those movies I was always "supposed to see" when I was growing up, and when I finally watched it, I couldn't figure out why. Since, then, it's fallen into the back of my mind along with countless other forgettable horror movies.
I had no reason to be interested in a Child's Play remake, nor did I realize that the original had spawned a series that has lasted multiple decades and is still going, despite this alleged do-over. But when I saw the trailer, for some reason, I was intrigued. Maybe it was the cast—Aubrey Plaza, Bryan Tyree Henry, with a personal favorite, Mark Hamill, lending his iconic voice to that of the doll itself. With the added 21st-century tech-addict angle and a heightened sense of levity and self-awareness in the marketing, I was interested. Not excited or invested, but casually interested.
And maybe that was the perfect way to walk into this movie—I can't imagine this one will please fans of the original (I'm just praying those don't exist). It's funny, silly, a little bit heartwarming, and maybe too much of each of those for its own good. But it mostly works, for someone with no stake or interest in the "Chucky" property.
2019's Child's Play, directed by relative newcomer Lars Klevberg, puts a very contemporary spin on the story. As opposed to 1988's Chucky, who was a normal doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer, 2019's "Buddi" is a tech-heavy plaything that doubles as an artificial-intelligence home assistant, much like Amazon's Alexa, but inside a doll. He can sync to all of your smart devices—TVs, thermostats, lights—and is controlled through an app on your phone. He learns as he talks to you and modifies his behavior accordingly. When a beaten-down and frustrated Buddi-factory worker in Vietnam is fired from his job, he takes vengeance on the company by removing a "behavior inhibitor" chip from a Buddi's innards. This, of course, disarms certain protocols that would prevent a Buddi doll from performing acts of violence, using profane language, or antagonizing other people. You get where this is going.
This particular Buddi ends up in the hands of a single mother working in a department store (Aubrey Plaza), who, in spite of her tight financials, wants to do something nice for her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman). So she snags a faulty Buddi doll that gets returned and brings it home. Andy, a quiet kid of refuses his mother's urging to go talk to other kids in the neighborhood, bonds with his Buddi, whose primary operation is being Andy's best friend, no matter what.
Andy's mother's new boyfriend, Shane (David Lewis), does not get along with Andy. He pushes him around and demeans him, and this catches the attention of Andy's Buddi, now named Chucky. So begins Chucky's reign of terror as he begins to antagonize everyone who his operating system deems as a threat to Andy, or a threat to their friendship.
It's basically Child's Play as a Black Mirror episode—complete with clunky, two-bit commentary about smartphone addiction and the modern over-reliance on technology. But surprisingly, this Child's Play is more concerned with a story of family, and a son and his single mother trying to get along. It's more human and endearing than I expected, and the film's four stars seem to really enjoy themselves (Plaza, Bateman, Hamill, and Bryan Tyree Henry as Detective Mike Morris, who regularly visits his mother down the hall from Andy's apartment, and ends up investigating the string of criminal cases in the wake of Chucky's spree). The jokes land better than expected, maybe thanks to Plaza's and Henry's knack for deadpan delivery, and Bateman—while no Jacob Tremblay—is convincing enough, even in some tougher emotional scenes.
The violence and "scares" of the film are maybe its weakest aspect, which I guess you could argue defeats the purpose of the movie altogether (which is also why I don't recommend this to fans of the original, or big horror fans). The violence is neither graphic enough to be unnerving nor tame enough to be ignored, and the "horror" is half-hearted and derivative. But Mark Hamill's performance, combined with the uncanny-valley-esque design of the Buddi doll, is worth a matinee ticket, at least. Chucky is funny, disconcerting, and even occasionally haunting. It might honesty just be the janky, budget animatronics and CGI that bring his face to life.
If anything, see it for Hamill, Plaza, and Henry. Don't see it for an exhilarating thrill ride or a faithful resurrection of the trashy original. It's a charming, funny, bloody family film. Might make for a solid date. Nothing particularly profound to be discovered here, but more fun than you'd find in most of the self-serious, melodramatic dumpster fires that make up the horror genre today.